By Scott A. Morgan
The Congressional Human Rights Caucus recently took steps to address a growing problem in the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The bi-partisan lobby had a two- day series of briefings on concerns regarding the situation in Northern Uganda. This crisis is a situation that has seen very little scrutiny but continues to fester as it has for almost 20 years.
The repercussions have been staggering. Several thousand have died as a result either from the violence or from disease and starvation. Over 1 million reside in camps for those that are Internally Displaced. And Children leave their homes to go sleep in schools to keep from being kidnapped. This is not how a generation should survive let alone try and prosper.
Recently there were elections held in Uganda. The President had won a third term after his political supporters rammed through Parliament a law that allowed him to run for a third term as President. The Ugandan Constitution only allows for a President to serve two consecutive terms. this document entered into force some time after Mr. Museveni had seized power from a rival.
The Caucus heard testimony regarding the crisis in the North of Uganda but there is a developing situation in another part of Africa. It also involves another US ally and the US risks alienating more people in its quest to defeat terror by supporting stable but increasingly autocratic governments. This case I am talking about Ethiopia.
Last year there were Parliamentary Elections in Ethiopia. What followed after the votes were counted is chilling at best. On two separate occasions there were violent street protests to show displeasure with the counts. Members of the Opposition that had won seats were detained by the authorities when they refused to take their seats. There has been a crackdown on the Media as well. And what has the Administration done?
The silence so far has been deafening. The State Department has asked for those detained to be released and have fair trials. But it also has stated that it has no means to place pressure on the Ethiopian Government. Congress has two bills in front of it to deal with the problem. One will propose an arms embargo on Ethiopia to keep US arms from being used to abuse Human Rights.
Before it takes up these bills the Congressional Human Rights Caucus needs to hold a briefing on what is happening in Addis Ababa. Our elected officials need to hear about how this “ally†is trying to rule through intimidation. People need to know why the State Department is basically silent in this crisis. After that maybe they can decide what will be done to help Zimbabwe and the DRC recover. The US is proposing to spend Millions of Dollars in Africa. Lets spend the money on the right problems and fix them
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